Did they die from the concussion of the blast, as someone in here suggested? Or perhaps knocked unconscious?
I have heard the wave from the explosion could have swamped her. Given the bodies were found at their posts and not piled up around the hatch I am inclined to believe they died from the concussion or lost consciousness from lack of oxygen while waiting for the tide to turn so they could return home with the tide. Nice museum and the cemetery is close by with big blood sucking mosquitoes
Yes, that is my understanding. The freeper who explained this to me actually worked on the Hunley project. We all originally thought their "torpedo" was equipped with barbs to jam into the wood of the ship being attacked, and that after attaching it to the ship, they were to reverse and unwind a long rope that would then pull the firing trigger on the explosive charge.
The reality, as borne out in photographs is that the torpedo charge was actually bolted solidly to the 20' long iron spar on the front of the Hunley. It was designed to fire on impact.
They were 20 feet away from the blast when it went off. They were killed from the shock instantly.